MC poll: Stokes warns rebel nomineesShimla, April 19
The PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes, today asked the Congress rebels to retire from the election to the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) by tomorrow failing which disciplinary action would be taken against them.

Farmers happy at bumper rabi cropHamirpur, April 19
Thanks to timely rains, favourable weather conditions farmers of the district who had lost their rabi crops last year are a happiest lot as they have got a bumper crop this time.

Garbage, but no dumpsShimla
Garbage is seen littered inside the commercial complex of the Shimla Development Authority
(SDA) with no garbage dumps in the area. Motorists also face problems as there is hardly any parking space. The vehicles are parked on the carriageway which results in traffic jams during peak hours.

Father hopeful of tracing JoelDharamsala, April 19
Refusing to return back to London, till he is able to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his para-glider son Bill Kitchen, who arrived here today along with his wife, Angie, said that he was very optimistic about Joel’s survival, as he had emerged victorious on a number of such occasions earlier also.
“Until I am able to solve the mystery as to what exactly happened to my son, I am not leaving this place,” said a determined Bill Kitchen.

DA slab for
HP staff, pensionersShimla, April 19
The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to grant another instalment of dearness relief to the employees and pensioners at the rate of 2 per cent with effect from July 1,2001.

Shimla, April 19
The PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes, today asked the Congress rebels to retire from the election to the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) by tomorrow failing which disciplinary action would be taken against them.

Mrs Stokes, who was talking to newsmen here, hoped that better sense would prevail among the six rebels contesting the election against the official candidates of the Congress.

She said corruption, hike in electricity tariff and imposition of users charges in hospitals would be the main plank of the Congress.

Mrs Stokes claimed that the Congress would sweep the poll and retain hold over the SMC.

She accused the BJP of indulging in unfair means and said some of the Congress candidates had brought this to the notice of the state Election Commission which had yet to take action in the matter.

The government machinery was being misused by the BJP, she alleged.

She alleged irregularities in the preparation of the electoral rolls for the SMC election.

Mrs Stokes claimed there was no groupism in the Congress and all leaders were united. She will visit all wards from tomorrow to campaign for the party candidates. The AICC
secretary, Mr Satyajit Gaekwad, will reach here tomorrow as the party observer for the election.

Meanwhile, Ms Krishna Mohini,
president, Women Congress, has alleged that large scale irregularities had been done in the preparation of electoral rolls for the SMC.

Shimla, April 19
The BJP today urged the voters to punish Congress in the ensuing municipal corporation elections for its non-performance and failure to fulfil promises made during the 1992 and 1997 elections.

Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, Vice-President of the state BJP and in charge of the party’s election campaign, today released copies of the manifestos on which the Congress had won the previous elections and challenged the Congress to come out with a single promise which it had fulfilled over its prolonged rule spanning over 16 years.

In the manifestos which were identical the Congress had promised to supply water to resident’s twice a day, construct 200 shops every year for women, unemployed youth and members of weaker section, exempt residential buildings from house tax, construct community centres at various places and provide 50 per cent subsidy to landlords for the construction of drains. It was alleged that none of these promises had been fulfilled.

Dharamsala, April 19
The Kangra DCC president, Mr
M.R. Goma, said today that the manner in which the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Mr Shanta Kumar, was made to apologise for his remarks, clearly indicated that the party was plagued with infighting.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said a leader of Mr Shanta Kumar’s stature had to eat humble pie for speaking out his mind as it went against the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi. He said the senior BJP leader from Kangra had to face the wrath of the party high command as all this was politically masterminded by the Chief minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal”.

Mr Goma said Congressmen from Kangra had been deputed to campaign in favour of party candidates during the Shimla Municipal Council elections. He said five partymen each from the 16 Assembly segments in Kangra district had been asked to campaign. He said the Congress was sure to win the MC elections as the people were fed up with the “anti-people” policies of the BJP-HVC regime.

Hamirpur, April 19
Thanks to timely rains, favourable weather conditions farmers of the district who had lost their rabi crops last year are a happiest lot as they have got a bumper crop this time.

Farmers are busy harvesting their crops and stacking them in bundles in their fields to take them to threshers. This is being done by those who had sown their crops late due to sowing of another crop of Toria . At many places, where crops have matured much earlier, the threshing operations have also started.

A visit to various places of the district by this reporter last evening and this morning revealed that the farmers were happy with their crops.

Farmers had sown wheat crops in an area of 36,700 hectares and the production target was fixed around 68,000 metric tonnes. However, according to Dr H.R. Sharma, Deputy Director of Agriculture, the production this time would exceed the target and may cross 70,000 metric tonnes mark.

Besides, pulses, oil seeds and commercial crops like potatoes and vegetables have also shown good results this time. Dr Sharma informed that last time also it was a bumper harvest of maize.

He told The Tribune here today that while there was a production of nearly 80,000 metric tonnes of maize last time, the farmers sold around 10,000 metric tonnes of maize to those who approached them at their places and thus earned an income to the tune of Rs 4 crore.

Dr Sharma said the decision of the FCI to open its depot at Kuthera in Hamirpur district also helped the farmers to sell their produce on almost double rates as compared to last year.

Incidentally, not even a single grain of maize was sold at the depot of the FCI, as their quality standard of purchase of the crop was much high than expectations of the people of the district.

Dr Sharma said though the department had fixed a target of 382 metric tonnes of high yielding variety of seeds to be sold to the farmers, its achievement was 900 metric tonnes. It was due to the reasons that last year, wheat crop in the district was cent percent failure.

Similarly, the high yielding variety seeds of pulses and oil seeds were also sold much higher than the fixed target.

He said the achievement under the distribution of chemical fertilizer was also remarkable.

Dharamsala, April 19
Refusing to return back to London, till he is able to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his para-glider son Bill Kitchen, who arrived here today along with his wife, Angie, said that he was very optimistic about Joel’s survival, as he had emerged victorious on a number of such occasions earlier also.

“Until I am able to solve the mystery as to what exactly happened to my son, I am not leaving this place,” said a determined Bill Kitchen. Trying to cope up with personal trauma and the problem of arranging huge finances for carrying out a extensive search operation, the parents of Joel, who has been missing since April 7 from Billing, today met a number of local experts and volunteers to work out the course of action.

Bill Kitchen said he was confident that being a great survivor with determination and excellent fitness, his son would survive even the most harsh conditions as he had gone through some harrowing experiences in extreme cold in Nepal and had borne even the hot desert
conditions well.

The Kitchen couple said back home in London there was a lot of concern and anguish about Joel, as schoolchildren and shopkeepers, who were complete strangers to the family, had been collecting fund for him.

Earlier the district administration and police officials kept waiting for the couple and Joel’s girlfriend throughout the day as they received calls from the British High Commission in Delhi, to extend all possible help to trace 25-year-old para-glider.

“We are touched by the overwhelming response that is pouring in from all over the world to extend all possible help , be it financial or the services of para-gliders and experts in this field,” said Bill. While admitting that they were facing financial problem as they had coughed up huge amount for the aerial recce undertaken so far, Bill said they were still to calculate as to how much monetary help had poured in.

Having met people from the Mountaineering Institute here, Bill said that the majority opinion was that focus should now be more on ground search. “Having announced an ward of Rs 1 lakh , we are confident that the
locals, especially the shepherds who move to the higher reaches during the summer months could provide vital clue about my missing son,” said a hopeful Bill.

Refusing to comment on the rescue operations undertaken by the Himachal Police, he said till he had spoken to the Superintendent of Police, Mr Sanjay Kundu, whom he was scheduled to meet at Billing tomorrow morning, he would not like to say anything. He said the option of getting further chopper
recess done depended upon the availability of funds. He added that the help of shepherds and expert mountain guides was most vital as they would be conversant with the difficult treks in the area.

Meanwhile, the SP, Mr Sanjay Kundu left for Billing, with a team of some para-gliders, who would recce the entire area once again. Police teams, with the help of the local panchayats are also continuing the search for Joel. The possibility of undertaking fresh aerial recce at a much lower height is also being considered.

Meanwhile, the state govt is seeking the help of the Army, which is likely to start the search from Billing tomorrow.

But with practically the entire forces from Yol and Dharamsala cantonment being deployed in Jammu and Kashmir a requisition is being made to higher Army authorities.

Shimla, April 19
The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to grant another instalment of dearness relief to the employees and pensioners at the rate of 2 per cent with effect from July 1,2001.

With the grant of this instalment, both employees and pensioners and family pensioners will be entitled to dearness relief at the rate 45 per cent of their basic pay or pension against the existing rate of 43 per cent.

With the implementation of this decision about 2 lakh employees and 65,000 pensioners will be benefited.

Una, April 19
There is an acute shortage of drinking water in Hamboli village, 15 km from here. At least 150 families are finding it hard even to get drinking water. The worse sufferers are residents of Bandukia Mohalla.

They have to bring water from a well situated more than a kilometer away. The level of water in the well, too, has gone down. According to residents, repeated complaints to the authorities concerned in this regard have yielded no results.

Paonta Sahib, April 19
“Today every person has become selfish. That is why there is no peace and unity in this world, there is violence in this world because there is no secularism,” head of Nirankari sect, Baba Hardev Singh Nirankari, said this while addressing a gathering here in Adarsh Colony. Thousands of devotees participated in the function which was organised by Nirankari Sant Samagam.

Mr Siya Ram Nirankari, president of the Sant Nirankari Mandal Paonta Sahib and Kesho Ram zonal in charge of the Sant Nirankri Mandal, also addressed the gathering.